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Field Day Mesh Test

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WB5PJB
Field Day Mesh Test

At Field Day this year, I threw together a quick mesh portable setup that provided a 9 mile path back to my QTH from the Field Day site. 
The Yagi is connected to a Ubiquiti Bullet HP, set to operate on channel -2. The outdoor plastic enclosure mounted to the tripod is an Orbit sprinkler enclosure that can be found at Home Depot and other stores. Inside the enclosure is a Linksys WAP & 4-port switch that has an Ethernet connection to the Ubiquiti Bullet. The WAP provided local connectivity in the area for phones, tablets, etc. There is also a 12 VDC to 24 VDC converter inside the enclosure to power the Bullet HP from a 12 VDC battery situated at the base of the tripod mast, that you can't see due to the tall grass. The little package can also be powered from 115 VAC, hence the orange extension cord wrapped up on the tripod. Since the package draws relatively little current, it doesn't take a huge battery to power the system for 24 hours. 

73,
Gary
WB5PJB
 
w8erd
Nice setup.  The Bullets can
Nice setup.  The Bullets can be operated from 12VDC, so you probably don't need the converter.
We operate Bullets this way regularly.

73,

Bob W8ERD
WB5PJB
Ahh, good to know. Thanks,
Ahh, good to know. Thanks, Bob!
-Gary-
KG6JEI
You might try a NanoStation,
You might try a NanoStation, even quicker and easier to setup.

Everything I have heard from real world testing is a NanoStation outperforms those yagi+bullet combos.

It adds dual parity which increases SNR lowers LQ, and potentially increases the speed you can get (because of dual chains you can double the data rate).

Ive got this as "Node in a bag" NSM2 strapped to a green army pole which also makes setup easier as no mounting of the antenna is needed only mounting the pole. (Doinf as many events as I do a year every few se nods matter :) 
WB5PJB
Yes, I have read on the
Yes, I have read on the forums here that the NanoStations perform better than the Bullets. It is on my list to get a couple of NS2s, so I will be able to test that. And, yes, the NS' are ridiculously simple to mount. I have used them on 5 GHz for years as ptp links, but haven't converted any over to mesh yet, as the ptp links are still useful in certain situations. Thanks for the comments!

73,
Gary
WB5PJB
 

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